The brains of autistic children are under lockdown, unable to travel between provinces, and their development is therefore slower than normal.
The brain’s long-range connections are important for learning and development. When we learn and develop, different parts of our brain need to work together. This is called “long-range connectivity.” It’s like different parts of a country need to work together for the country to run smoothly.
For example, when we learn a new word, our brain needs to do about 7 steps:
- Using sight and lip reading: The frontal, occipital, and parietal lobes of the brain work more.
- Using hearing and listening to sounds: The temporal lobe and parietal lobe of the brain work more.
- Using body language and reading emotions: The limbic system processes information about the parent’s emotional state and intentions.
- Planning and executing speech: The cerebellum, premotor cortex, parietal lobe, and motor cortex are involved in planning and executing speech.
- Monitoring speech output: The temporal, frontal, brainstem, and parietal lobes are involved in monitoring speech output.
- Responding to feedback: The reward circuit, mesolimbic pathway, and midbrain are involved in responding to feedback.
- Repetition and practice: Repetition and practice lead to fluency in speech.
Therefore, the development that we think is easy, in fact, requires complex communication back and forth from the front to the back of the brain in a split second.
In normal children (left picture), the brain is constantly communicating over long distances. There is good long-range connectivity, so they can learn, develop, and remember new vocabulary quickly and accurately. But in autistic children (right picture), the brain is locked down, making it impossible to travel long distances.
The economy is not good, this is called underconnectivity.
They have to rely on communication within the province instead. This short-distance communication is called short-range connectivity. However, relying solely on communication within the province is not enough, so children with autism have delayed development and learning.
